Microstructure and elastic properties of sintered hydroxyapatite

The paper focuses on the dependence of microstructure and elastic properties of sintered hydroxyapatite on the processing parameters. Several specimens were sintered in conventional furnace at various temperatures. Elastic moduli were measured ultrasonically and information about the microstructure was recovered from these data and then verified by analysis of microphotographs. It was obtained that the average shape of pores becomes more “round” as the sintering temperature increases. That leads, in particular, to higher fracture toughness of the material since the stress concentration near pores is reduced.